Avery Bradley's injury looks threatening after Boston Celtics fumble Game 1 opportunity against Atlanta Hawks

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/04/marcus_smart_boston_celtics_at.html




Avery Bradley's injury looks threatening after Boston Celtics fumble Game 1 opportunity against Atlanta Hawks




Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley goes down to the hardwood during Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com


on April 17, 2016 at 4:45 AM, updated April 17, 2016 at 5:42 AM





ATLANTA -- Standing against a back wall of the locker room, Avery Bradley called for assistance. Barely able to bend his leg, he had just limped across the floor. He waved a Boston Celtics staffer over to his side and sat down in a chair.

"I need your help," Bradley said.

In the wake of a regrettable, 102-101 Game 1 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, this wasn't what the Celtics needed: their starting shooting guard, such a key two-way player, requiring another man to pull socks over his feet. Bradley later said he hopes to play in Game 2, but, judging by the way he hobbled after straining his right hamstring, could need a lengthy session with Mr. Miyagi -- or at least an incredible turnaround -- to recover in time for Tuesday's tip-off.

The injury arrived just moments after the Celtics had finished erasing a 17-point halftime deficit. When Bradley started limping, teammate Jae Crowder was spotting up in the corner for a 3-pointer that actually gave Boston a fourth-quarter lead. Until committing a series of errors down the stretch, which ultimately doomed them, the Celtics put together a powerful second half.

"That's us," said Isaiah Thomas, who led Boston with 27 points and eight assists. "That's Celtics basketball when we're out defending, getting in the passing lanes, getting steals, and getting easy baskets."

Maybe that was why the Celtics allowed themselves to laugh after the game. What caused the spell of levity wasn't clear to the reporter standing across the room, but Bradley, Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson all shared a light moment together. The chuckles felt odd in a locker room that could have been somber, but even after Bradley's injury, Boston took strength from that second half.

"We understand that we didn't play our very best, and we still came back from 17 down," said Marcus Smart, who scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. "We understand if we don't let them jump on us early, we most likely win that game. And we understand, we've got another game ahead of us. That game's over. It's the playoffs. You can't hold your head on one game, especially the first one."

The positives? The Celtics gave themselves a chance to win despite shooting just 36.3 percent from the field, including an abominable 23.1 percent before halftime. Head coach Brad Stevens needed only four minutes to pivot away from traditional lineups, and the smaller groups limited Atlanta's offense while opening the floor for Thomas' penetration at the other end. Until a costly foul in the final minute, Smart played a brilliant fourth quarter. He will need to leave his mark on this series -- especially if Bradley's MRI Sunday brings bad news.

Even while trailing 51-34 at the half, Stevens said he felt encouraged by his team's defense and figured the shots would start falling.

"And hey," he thought, "we ride this way, right? We guard, we grind, we try to find a way."

The Celtics did grind, and they almost found a way. Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer might have described the matchup best: "I think both teams make it really hard on each other."

If Bradley somehow can play -- and even, perhaps, if he can't -- this could be one heck of a series. Unfortunately for Boston, scoring against Atlanta is no easy task, and will become significantly more difficult if Bradley needs to miss time. Even if he does return at some point in the series, there's no promise he will make his usual impact. Bradley relies on his quickness and hamstring injuries are no friend to that.

Without him, sticking with small lineups could stretch other players' minutes, cause fatigue and/or force Stevens to rely on one of the rookies, like R.J. Hunter or Terry Rozier. Those guys have both shown glimpses of promise, but the Celtics bench has fallen off whenever a veteran misses a chunk of time.

Adding to the injury issues, Kelly Olynyk's right shoulder acted up again in a series where Boston needs as much shooting as possible. Every inch of spacing is valuable against the Hawks because their length and athleticism is devastating if they can cheat off multiple players at the arc. The Celtics learned that emphatically while shooting 12 for 52 during the first half.

Don't look at the shot chart unless you're sitting down:




"We're a team that doesn't really like playing in the halfcourt," Thomas said.

After three straight unforgivable starts, Crowder added, "We have to figure this first half thing out. It's killing us."

Also a killer Saturday night: the last four minutes. Turner got blocked from behind on a fast break and took a final-minute 3-pointer (which was open, but still) with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. It would have tied the score, but missed like 75.9 percent of Turner's triples did this season. Amir Johnson fumbled the ball while trying to handle it on the perimeter. Thomas and Crowder both failed to grab a defensive rebound, allowing Al Horford to yank it away and draw two free throws. Crowder failed to cut off Jeff Teague's penetration on a switch and still hasn't shown full mobility since returning from a high ankle sprain. Smart wrapped up Kent Bazemore with a foul when the Celtics had time to play for a stop.

Two of the mistakes gave the Hawks fast breaks, which Teague finished with a pair of pretty assists. He, Horford and Paul Millsap all completed big games with critical plays down the stretch. After missing a layup at one end of the court, Millsap showed incredible hustle to block Turner from this position a step behind midcourt:


Screen shot from NBA.com

Atlanta won't always receive so much help from Kent Bazemore (23 points, eight rebounds) and Mike Scott (14 points, 6-for-9 shooting), but the Celtics still missed an opportunity with Kyle Korver showing strange long-distance inaccuracy (0 for 7 from behind the arc) and Dennis Schroder completely ineffective off the bench.

Earlier in the day, Korver had discussed how much the Game 1 result changes a team's mindset.

"You're either feeling really good about the series or you're feeling really bad about the series," he said.

The Celtics? After an up-and-down night that might have cost them one of their best two-way players, they seemed somewhere in the middle.

"I don't think we're gonna go many halves missing 40 shots," Turner said. "I think that's most encouraging."

"If you hold your head on that, you let that kind of be the stepping stone to what the series is going to be like, you'll get swept," added Smart. "So we understand that this game is over. The most important game is the next one. So we're blessed with another game. We just have to go out there and take it."

That's always the tough part, and Bradley's injury threatens to make everything tougher.



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